I'M A GENIUS IDOL BUT MY PASSIVE IS SUNFISH: Chapter 49

 TL by Miru

I'm a Genius Idol but My Passive is Sunfish: Episode 49

 

"It's an animal impression... starting with a sparrow sound."

 

The classroom quieted down.

 

"You can relax, take it easy."

 

Encouraged by Sujae's support, Baekya gathered his courage.

 

"Chirp, chirp, chirp."

 

An immense silence followed the moment.

1 second.

2 seconds.

3 seconds.

Even after the demonstration ended, the silence persisted, prompting Baekya to move his eyes around.

 

'Should I do it again...?'

 

The Sunfish's eyes roamed wildly. Surveying the atmosphere, he made the sound once more.

 

"Chirp, chirp, chirp."

 

Then, suppressed burst of uncontrollable laughter erupted from everywhere.

 

"Pfft! Ah, he's too cute!"

 

Youngsam, who had been laughing while hitting the desk, stood up and approached Baekya at the podium, wrapping him in a hug.

 

"You're really amazing. Want to join my group?"

 

Jihan smoothly peeled Youngsam's arm off in a courteous manner as he attempted to recruit Baekya.

 

"He's our team's red bean."

 

Jihan deadpanned a pun on red bean paste with a serious face. Meanwhile, at the back of the classroom, three more cast members still couldn't get over Baekya's sparrow sound.

 

"A sparrow, pfft, isn't that too straightforward?"

"Ah, I'm tearing up. Who praised him for that?"

"Puhahaha! Besides the sparrow, do another!"

 

Hodin, finding odd charm in it, requested sounds of other animals.

 

'Besides a sparrow...?'

 

Baekya cautiously responded.

 

"...A lion?"

"Lion, all right!"

 

Encouraged by the national MC's request, Baekya prepared for a lion impression. The Sunfish was always earnest, no matter what was asked of him.

 

"Roaaaar!"

 

He scrunched up his nose and opened his mouth wide.

 

[Welcome to the Animal Kingdom]

[The Brave Hamster]

 

Though he intended to mimic the facial expression of a roaring lion, to an outsider, he appeared more like a yawning hamster.

 

"Bwahaha!"

 

Yulmu, trying hard to hold back, eventually burst into laughter. While Baekya had anticipated people laughing at his personal talent, he hadn't expected such roaring laughter.

 

'Maybe I should have pursued a career as a comedian?'

 

Baekya mused as he observed the genuine laughter from both members and panelists.

 

"Who knew this could bring tears to my eyes. Anyway, it's nice to see you giving it your all."

 

Sujae wiped away his tears.

 

"By the way, didn't your homeroom teacher tell you to hand something to the class president?"

 

As the personal talent segment concluded, Daeyoon asked for the admission application.

 

"Oh! Just a moment."

 

Minsung opened Baekya's backpack, and Baekya politely offered his back for Minsung to retrieve the document. Soon after, Minsung pulled out a square file and handed it over to Hodin.

 

"Name, DASE!"

 

Hodin read aloud with a booming voice.

 

"Affiliation! ...Doll Factory?"

 

When asked where this place was and wondering if it was a factory producing stones, Chung corrected him with fluent pronunciation.

//TN: Stone in Korean is 'dol'.

 

"Nope. Doll Factory. A place that makes dolls! We all came out from there."

"Ah~ Did you escape?"

"...A mask dance? No. I don't know how to do that."

"Huh?"

"But I've seen it on YouTube."

//TN: Escape is "talchul" and the Korean traditional masked dance is called "talchum" so Chung got confused there.

 

[Communication Error]

[Let's save the mask dance for next time...]

[Revealing DASE's real aspirations!]

 

"Minsung's dream is to be a singer. But you've already achieved that now."

"Yeah. I've already achieved it."

"Ah, did you perhaps want to be a solo singer or something?"

 

Sujae playfully suggested that Minsung might have written 'singer' as his future aspiration again after debuting in a group. Minsung, flustered, waved his hands in denial.

 

"No. I really like the members now and want to be with them forever. I mean it."

 

[The Close-Knit DASE]

[Next up, Yulmu's aspirations]

 

"Yulmu's aspiration! Yulmu!"

 

Hodin jokingly asked if being born as Yulmu (adlay) and becoming Yulmu (adlay) tea was his dream. Yulmu, realizing he forgot to write 'DASE' in front of his name, cheekily responded.

//TN: Yulmu's name literally means "Adlay" which is a type of grain people use to make tea in Asia.

 

"Being DASE's Yulmu is my dream~"

"That's still you."

"Yep. I've already achieved it too."

 

Daeyoon remarked that DASE seemed to have a strong sense of self-love.

 

"So, you've already achieved your dream too. Next up is Jihan."

 

Jihan's dream was to be a teacher.

 

"Did you study a lot in school?"

"I did work hard."

 

Hodin asked about his academic standing, and after a moment's hesitation, Jihan answered without faltering.

 

"I was placed second in class."

 

The classroom buzzed at the revelation that he had been first only once.

 

"Wow~ While being a trainee?"

"Yeah. While working at the company."

 

Youngsam, understanding the schedules of trainees better than anyone, was impressed, saying that this was truly amazing. He acknowledged that balancing studies and debut preparations was an immense challenge.

 

"I totally respect you."

"Thanks."

 

Next up was Baekya.

 

"Baekya's aspiration is to be like Daeyoon."

"Me? Why?"

 

When Hodin asked if becoming a national athlete was his dream, Baekya shook his head.

 

"That's great too, but I want to be tall like Daeyoon."

"How tall are you?"

 

[Baekya's Height: 175.2cm]

[Not a Short Height by Any Means]

 

Hodin countered, suggesting that Baekya's height was actually above average.

 

"Right. It's not that I'm dissatisfied with my height right now."

 

But standing next to his much taller members made him feel relatively small.

 

"I do wish to be similar in height."

 

Youngsam comforted Baekya.

 

"No, you're more charming as you are. Of course, being taller would be cool too, but the balance and the combined image when you six are together is just perfect. Maybe the company considered all these aspects when putting you together?"

 

Half right, half wrong. Baekya was a member who joined the group at the very last minute.

 

"Thanks for kind words."

 

[Now onto Yuyeon's aspiration]

 

"Yuyeon... a princess?"

"Right. I wanted to be a princess when I was young."

 

Hodin remarked it was the first time he'd heard someone want to be a princess instead of a prince.

 

"I have two older sisters."

 

He grew up watching magical girl transformations or princess-themed cartoons...

 

"My sisters would wear pretty shoes with ribbons, and I'd cry wanting to wear sneakers like them."

"So, do you still want to be a princess?"

"Hmm~ No. Now that I think about it, I want to be a prince."

"Why? Is it that easy to change your dreams?"

"Because now the fans are my princesses?"

 

Yuyeon grinned, his dimples sinking into his cheeks.

 

"Wow~ He planned that! He totally planned it!"

 

Daeyoon exclaimed, flustered, wondering why he felt charmed by another guy.

 

"Ooh~ That's pretty smooth."

 

Minsung gave Yuyeon a thumbs-up, and they high-fived naturally.

 

"Last up. Chung's is... being a human? Are you saying you're not quite human yet?"

 

Sujae's pun had everyone but Chung bursting into laughter.

 

[????]

[The only foreigner who didn't get the joke]

 

"What? What was that?"

 

Yuyeon explained in detail, but Chung couldn't grasp the deeper context and came up with a different answer.

 

"That's right, I'm not human."

 

If one had to choose the member who took this concept most seriously, it would probably be Chung.

 

"I'm currently a doll. So, what I want to become later is a human."

"Then, once you're human, what do you most want to do?"

 

Sujae asked him.

 

"Hmm."

 

Chung, pondering the question, brightened up upon making eye contact with Baekya.

 

"I want to raise a hamster!"

"...Why are you saying that while looking at me?"

"Because you resemble one!"

 

[Now, onto examining strengths and weaknesses]

 

"Why is Minsung's strength blank? The weakness is weak mentality."

"That's right. I think I do have a weak mentality."

 

Minsung wished to strengthen his mental resilience, prompting Sujae to suggest a solution.

 

"How about going into the mountains for some mental training? Like gathering vital energy under a waterfall."

 

Woooah! Mimicking energy gathering, Sujae demonstrated, and Minsung playfully followed suit with a laugh.

 

"Let's have the members mention one of Minsung's strengths."

 

Hodin playfully suggested that if Minsung had been taking good care of the members, they would have nice things to say; otherwise, he'd end up with two weaknesses.

 

"Minsung has leadership and is very considerate. That's his strength."

 

Jihan answered calmly. Sujae, who had been flaring his nostrils while attempting to play a joke, suddenly became calm.

 

"Strangely, I always end up listening to everything he says...?"

 

Sujae admitted he couldn't argue with Jihan's words because they carried weight. Daeyoon also agreed.

 

"Next up, Yulmu! Yulmu's strength is his physical power."

"Yeah. I'm strong."

"How strong? Stronger than Daeyoon?"

 

Sujae teased, pitting his friend against him. Daeyoon, however, mentioned he didn't think his arm strength matched his basketball skills, but a competition for the two was already set up.

A single desk placed in the middle. Yulmu and Daeyoon, of similar builds, sat across from each other with a palpable tension as they clasped hands.

 

[A Breathtaking Tension]

[Who Will Emerge as the Ultimate Winner?]

 

"Then, ready!"

 

Yulmu had a serious expression, a rare sight from the usually playful member.

 

"Start!"

 

At the whistle's sound, the match began. Yulmu's forearms and the veins on the back of his hands were prominent as he rolled up his sleeves.

Neither seemed to gain an upper hand, the match appearing to be at a standstill.

 

[A Neck and Neck Battle]

[Yulmu Trying to Overpower, Daeyoon Resisting!]

 

Then, Yulmu exerted more force, pulling towards himself in a decisive move. Daeyoon clenched his teeth in resistance, but gradually, the balance tipped.

 

"Whoaaa!"

 

Eventually, Daeyoon's hand hit the desk, declaring Yulmu the winner. DASE celebrated as if they had all won, wrapping Yulmu in a joyful embrace.

 

[Continuing with Yulmu's Weakness]

 

"Yulmu's weakness. He's too competitive."

"Right. His competitiveness is no joke."

 

The members continued to testify. When asked how intense it was, Yuyeon spoke with a slightly pale face,

 

"There was this game that briefly became popular among us, where you throw a water bottle to make it stand upright. I did it in one try."

 

Yuyeon shuddered, recalling how they made bets on it, and afterward, they had to wait until Yulmu succeeded.

 

"It got to the point where he'd come in while I was in the shower to throw the water bottle- mph!"

"Stop! That's enough!"

 

Minsung quickly covered Yuyeon's mouth.

 

"Is this topic okay?"

"What's not okay about it?"

 

Youngsam replied nonchalantly.

 

"But Daeyoon, if you had won today, Yulmu would've probably followed you back home to arm wrestle?"

 

Sujae's remark was confirmed by Yulmu with a laugh.

 

"Yeah, I might have done that."

 

Next, Jihan's strength: whistling.

 

"That's the personal skill you showed earlier."

"Yeah. That's right."

 

Hodin oddly praised him, saying he did so well he could compete in a whistling world championship.

 

"Weakness! He's quiet."

"I'm not much of a talker."

"That seems about right."

 

Jihan chuckled at Hodin's sharp response.

 

"But that can be a strength. From what I see, your team has quite a few talkative members."

 

Hodin pointed out Yulmu, Yuyeon, and Chung. All of them extroverted individuals.

 

"Idol groups need balance. Having someone quiet like you complements the louder members."

 

Hodin emphasized the need for balance.

 

"From my perspective, your reticence is actually an advantage for your teammates, don't you think?"

"Exactly."

 

Yulmu slung his arm around Jihan's shoulder.

 

"Now, onto Baekya!"